The Lone Wanderer's Road
by The World-Eater
Summary: The Lone Wanderer's story from the beginning to the end of his road.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

* * *

The year is 2258, storm clouds are brewing over the Capital Wasteland. The people of the Capital Wasteland are at each other's throats after a series of well-coordinated attacks across the Capital Wasteland. Some blame the Enclave, others the Raiders, even the Brotherhood of Steel has been accused. There's complete chaos and everybody is on edge these days. People have lost their trust and faith in each other and are now struggling for their survival against this new threat. News of the chaos in the Capital Wasteland spreads across America, from Chicago to Maryland, even to the Mojave. Almost everybody avoids the Capital Wasteland, only those who are brave or foolish enough enter it to never return.

The Capital Wasteland, no longer deemed worthy of preservation falls into a deeper nightmare when the people start to fight each other. The mysterious new threat spreads rapidly across the Capital Wasteland and people start to spread rumors of a merciless Evil consuming the Capital Wasteland of all good in it. The Brotherhood of Steel begins to fail at their mission of protecting the people and lose hope. All the defenders of the Capital Wasteland have perished and disappeared. The mysterious threat slowly takes control of the defenseless Capital Wasteland.

But not all hope is lost, one man who sacrificed the future of Humanity for that of his only child currently lives in the safety of Vault 101, one of the last few safe havens. The child of the man will walk a road that will change both the Capital Wasteland and himself. How will this child walk his road? That however is something forged through friendship and the choices one makes on his road...


	2. The Safe Life in the Vault

**The Safe Life in the Vault**

* * *

**One Year Later**

* * *

A little child is carried down the almost endless hallway towards a room. James, the man who carries the child places him on the medical bed and carefully rolls up the sleeve of the child's shirt. He is accompanied by two other men who run into the room, Jonas and Stanley. Jones is holding a small syringe and injects a sedative into the child's arm. He looks over his shoulder to Stanley who nods at him and is ready to take x-rays. Jonas eventually looks at James who picks up a precision laser. He carefully and slowly opens the arm of child and Jonas uses a scalpel to take some bone. He stitches the child back up and takes some blood afterwards. The men walk towards their stations and start analyzing their samples.

James sits down behind his desk and opens his computer. He looks over his computer to Jonas. "How are things on your end Jonas?"

_How is this possible? _Jonas thinks to himself while he is analyzing a blood sample. "I'm not sure yet doc, this could take more time than I expected."

Stanley walks towards the door of the room and lets the other two men continue their work. "James, Jonas, good luck." Both men quickly wave at him and continue their work.

James stands up with a copy of his samples and findings. He walks to Jonas. "What are his scores? You know, Strength, Endurance…"

Jonas stands up and sighs. He looks at James and shows him his findings. "Oh no, those are all a perfect ten. However there is something with his muscles but it doesn't seem to affect his strength."

Jonas notices James raises an eyebrow as he reads the copy of Jonas' findings. "His muscles aren't developing properly due to his increased bone growth?"

Jonas looks at the ground and slowly nods. "Exactly, I'm not sure what this is James. Only time will tell if your son will grow over it."

They both finish their cataloging their findings, James walks to his son and gently picks him up. He looks over his shoulder and sees Jonas nod at him and leave the room. He walks back to his room and places his son back in bed. He walks back to his office and opens a safe hidden behind a framed picture. He grabs a holotape and walks out of his office and back to his room.

Jonas bumps into James in the hallway holding a book. "James, I think I've found a way to make a cure."

_A nameless, old book?_ James thinks to himself as he opens it and reads some paragraphs. "Interesting Jonas, leave it in my office. We'll make notes of it later."

James walks into his room and he hears some soft footsteps in the room ahead. He opens the door and startles his son who is exploring his room. He chuckles and kneels next to a framed picture of Revelation 21:6. He gestures at his son to come over. His son, barely able to walk, manages to walk to his father and listens to the quote.

"_Revelation 21:6. I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely."_

For a moment James is lost in his thoughts and thinks about his wife, Catherine, back at Project Purity. He diminishes the thought and sees his child look at him expectantly with his big innocent eyes. James chuckles and picks up his son and walks out of the room. He walks down the hallway to another room where James is greeted Alphonse Almodovar.

Alphonse sits down next to James and grabs a bottle of water. "How is your son holding up James?"

James sighs and looks at the ground before making eye contact with Alphonse. "H- He's fine."

Alphonse raises an eyebrow as he notices that James is uncomfortable. "Are you sure?"

_I knew he'd ask that… _James thinks to himself. "Yes, I am sure."

Alphonse sees right through the lie but doesn't push the subject any further. The two men look at their children playing with each other. James stands up and shakes Alphonse's hand before leaving with his son. He takes his son back his room and places him into bed. He walks back to his office and remembers the book Jonas put in his office, he grabs it and starts reading it.

**Nine Years Later**

* * *

James son, Ezra, walks into a poorly lit room and is surprised by his father and other people. His vision slowly returns and he sees his father stand in front of him and Amata behind him. He looks around the room and in the corner of his eye he notices Butch, the boy who keeps bullying him. He looks back at this father who looks at him with admiration in his eyes.

James hugs his son and smiles. "Happy birthday son. You've grown up real fast, ten already!"

Before James could say anything else he's interrupted by Alphonse Almodovar, the Overseer of Vault 101.

The Overseer is holding a weird green device what almost everyone else in the room is wearing as well. "Congratulations young man. Ten years is quite the achievement in Vault 101, you are ready to take on your first official Vault responsibilities. As Overseer I hereby present to you; your very own Pip-Boy 3000."

Ezra raises an eyebrow when he notices the small needles in the center of the pip-boy. He carefully attaches it to his forearm and he feels his arm hurt for a moment. He sees the pip-boy screen flash up and gather information on its current wearer.

_I guess I'm stuck with this thing._ He thinks to himself and looks at his father.

James places his hand on his son's shoulder and smiles. "Enjoy your party son, you are only ten once. Have fun!"

Ezra looks past his father and sees Amata holding a little box.

Amata walks up to him and smiles. "Happy birthday. Did we really surprise you, or did you know?"

Ezra chuckles and hugs Amata. "No, I really didn't know. Was it my dad's idea to invite Butch?"

Amata frowns and slowly nods. "Yeah, he said we had to invite him but I didn't know Butch would come with Paul and Wally."

_Of course he did._ Ezra thinks to himself, he looks at Butch and shakes his head. "Oh, no matter, I'll just ignore them."

Amata laughs and hands him the little box. "Good idea, any idea what it is? Guess!"

He raises his eyebrow and carefully inspects the little box. "Well, judging by the weight and size… A book?"

_Crap. _She thinks to herself. "True, but what kind of book is it?"

_Oh, I didn't expect that. _He thinks, he looks at Amata and shakes his head. "You got me, I've got no idea."

Amata smiles from ear to ear. "Yes, I knew I'd surprise you. I got you the issue 14 Grognak the Barbarian with no missing pages."

He opens the box and sees a little book with a large man on it wielding a sword. He looks at Amata and hugs her. "Wow, this is really cool! Thanks Amata."

They both chuckle for a moment when they see Butch spill his water over his jumpsuit. Amata lets Ezra continue mingle with the rest of his guests. He is distracted by a Mr. Gutsy model robot named Andy, who draws everyone's attention to cut the cake. Before Amata could stop him Andy cuts the cake and smears the walls and some guests with cake. He walks towards Stanley and sits down next to him.

Stanley smiles and hands him an old baseball cap. "How you like that Pip-Boy, fit alright and everything?"

Ezra looks at his Pip-Boy which is still collecting information. "Yeah, is it possible to reinforce the gauntlet?"

_The kid reminds me of myself when I was younger. _Stanley thinks and chuckles. "Well, I may have some old books lying around in my room but you'll have to you wait 'till you're older."

Ezra puts the baseball cap on his head and smiles. "Alright, deal and thanks for the baseball cap Stanley."

He sees Lucy 'Old Lady' Palmer sit across the Overseer and gesture at him.

He walks over to her and smiles. "Are you enjoying the party?"

Lucy Palmer chuckles and hands him a small sweetroll. "Goodness, of course I do dear. I made you a fresh sweetroll."

Before he could say anything he sees the Overseer in the corner of his eye look at him curiously. He turns his head towards the Overseer who now raises an eyebrow and looks at him expectantly.

Ezra swallows and looks at the Overseer. "Are you enjoying the party Sir?"

The Overseer smirks and sighs. "Oh yes, I wanted to ask you something but I'll wait 'till you are old enough."

Ezra turns his head slightly to the left and raises his eyebrow, he turns around when he feels someone place a hand on his shoulder. He sees Butch standing in front of him.

Butch tightens his grip on Ezra's shoulder. "I'm hungry, I heard you got a sweetroll. Give it to me."

_He won't beat me in front of all these people. _He thinks, he shows a pained expression and tries to hide it. "Not this time Butch, go eat some cake from the wall."

Butch angered by what Ezra just said pushes him to the ground and tries to punch. Thankfully Ezra is fast enough to block the incoming punches and sees Officer Gomez pull Butch off him. Amata helps him back up and they both look at how Officer Gomez drags Butch out of the room.

Amata looks at him and cleans some dirt of his jumpsuit. "Are you alright?"

_I can't believe he attacked me at my own birthday party. _He thinks and looks at Amata, he smiles his pain away. "Yeah, Butch was being a pain in the ass again, as always."

He feels another hand on his shoulder and sees his father standing beside him. He leads his son out of the room and towards the reactor level when they are stopped by Beatrice.

She kneels in front of Ezra and hands him a small piece of paper. "Happy birthday dearie, I made you a poem! I see you and your daddy are making your way somewhere, don't let me stop you."

_Whoa, rather dark, like really dark. _He thinks as he reads the poem.

They both continue walk down the dull grey hallway and go down the stairs towards the reactor level. At the reactor level Ezra sees Jonas and smiles at him, Jonas chuckles and waves at him. He looks back at his father who places a blindfold on his son's head.

James grabs a large box and holds it behind his back. "We got one last surprise for you, are you ready?"

_These surprises are getting annoying. _He shrugs and hears both James and Jonas chuckle. "Yeah, I'm ready dad."

He takes of his blindfold and sees James holding a BB-Gun. James hands to it his son who carefully looks at the weapon.

_Wow, amazing. _He thinks as he aims the weapon at the wall. "This is really awesome dad!"

He places the BB-Gun on his back and hugs his father. "Ahaha, make sure to thank Jonas as well he found this rusty old thing down here."

He turns around and runs to Jonas and hugs him. "Thanks Jonas, this is really cool."

Jonas chuckles and looks at Ezra. "Happy birthday buddy, now go on, let me see your shooting skills!"

James opens the door and Ezra sees a large cleaned up room set up with shooting targets. He follows his father into the room and is lost in thought.

James turns around and looks at his son. "We cleaned this place up, you can come down here and shoot whenever you want."

He runs up to his father and hugs him, he sees his father smile. "This is really awesome, thanks dad!"

He turns his eyes towards the three shooting targets and wields his BB-gun. He looks down the sight and slowly breathes and shoots the first target. He looks over his shoulder and sees both James and Jonas clap. He turns his head towards the second target and hits it flawlessly, he turns his BB-Gun towards the third target and notices a radroach walk into the area. He attempts to shoot the radroach to not avail and gets slightly frustrated.

James notices his son's frustration and chuckles. "Try using the inbuilt V.A.T.S. system of your Pip-Boy."

Ezra lowers his gun and opens up his Pip-Boy and scrolls through all the options, he frowns when he sees the option to use Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System. He selects it and feels his senses enhance. He raises his gun and aims at the radroach and slowly breathes, he sees the small black eyes of the radroach look at him as he takes the shot. The radroach's body lies lifelessly on the cold metal ground, he places his gun on his back and turns around.

James walks up to his son and places his hand on his son's shoulder. "Well done son, this could be your new job; kill radroaches."

_Sounds like a great idea. _He thinks and nods. "Yeah, that'd be cool."

They see Jonas holding a camera, both James and Ezra stand next to each other and smile. Jonas takes a photo and they leave the reactor room and back upstairs to the party.

**Six Years Later**

* * *

James is examining his son and hands him some small purple pills. Ezra quickly takes two and places his hand on his stomach. James notices the discoloration on his son's skin and frowns.

_His situation is only getting worse. _He thinks and looks through his son's medical file. He raises an eyebrow and sighs. "I'm sorry son, you'll have to take the G.O.A.T. today."

Ezra places the rest of the pills back in the small bottle and places it in his pocket, he shows a pained expression on his face and looks at his father. "I know, I'll let you know what the outcome is."

He notices a bobblehead on his father's desk and grabs it to inspect it, he sees his Pip-Boy flash up and make notes of the information stored on the bobblehead. He raises an eyebrow and walks out of his father's office, he sees Jonas walk into the room and greets him. Ezra hears some commotion in the hallway and looks around the hallway and sees the Tunnel Snakes, the gang formed by Butch, harassing Amata. Ezra, already standing a head taller than everybody else in the Vault, slowly walks up to the group.

_Freakin' assholes! _Amata thinks and she turns her blood red face towards Butch. "Leave me alone!"

Butch rolls his eyes when he sees Amata looking past him, he turns around and sees Ezra standing there. "Oh you, great. The fuck you want?"

Ezra uses his height as leverage over Butch and looks him right into his eyes. "You think it's wise Butch? Harassing the daughter of the Overseer? He'll have your head in a second."

Butch gestures at the rest of his little group and walk towards the classroom. "Fine, we'll stop… for now."

Ezra walks up to Amata and smiles. "Are you alright?"

She smirks and nods. "Yeah, thanks for the help."

They both walk into the classroom and they take a seat. He sees his teacher, Mr. Brotch, walk to Ezra's desk and leans on it. The teacher raises an eyebrow when he sees Ezra take some pills and sighs.

Mr. Brotch sighs and shakes his head. "You know, I can let you skip the test and fill it in for you if you want."

Ezra looks up and raises an eyebrow curiously. "Why would you do that sir?"

Mr. Brotch chuckles and smiles, he hands him a filled in piece of paper. "Your medical condition, here you go. The test I filled in will make you a doctor. Just stay here 'till the test is over and get some rest."

Ezra looks at his filled in test and places it in his pocket, he looks around and slowly pulls out the bobblehead he found took earlier and inspects it. He places it back when he hears Mr. Brotch gather everyone's attention and starts the test. Ezra looks around the room and sees some people look at him curiously for not filling in the test. He slowly looks in a different direction and sees Freddie holding his head in frustration.

_Oh Lord, poor Freddie… _He thinks.

After fifteen minutes Ezra fell asleep and is awoken by Amata who looks at him with slight irritation in her eyes. He slowly stands up and frowns, she chuckles and smiles as they both leave the classroom.

He places his arm on her shoulder and smiles. "So, what did you get?"

She chuckles and pushes the arm of her shoulder. She turns around and looks at him. "Marriage Counselor, what about you?"

He stops walking and sighs. "Doctor."

They both start laughing and walk down the hallway and enter the cafeteria. They both grab a plate and some cake and sit down across each other.

_Ugh, I cheated. I hate it. _He thinks and looks at his piece of cake. "Ever think what's out there?"

Amata looks up and shakes her head. "Out where?"

He places his fork next to his plate and looks at her and sighs. "Beyond the Vault, I mean in the world."

Her fork falls out of her hand and she stares at him for a moment. "Why would you even want to go out there?"

He looks down at his plate, not making eye contact. "The people out there could use help you know."

She picks her fork up and finishes her cake and shakes her head. "All hope out there is lost."

She stands up and places her hand on his shoulder giving it a little squeeze, he doesn't respond and is lost in thought. She sighs and leaves the cafeteria.

_Not all hope is lost. _He thinks and stands up, he walks in a fast pace towards his father's office. "Dad, I ne- What are you doing?"

He stares at his father who has turned his entire office into a chemical facility, all kinds of tubes and boiling stuff is flowing around his office. James sees his son look at all the different things and chuckles.

He walks up to his son and smiles. "Well, what did you get?"

Ezra snaps out of his focus and looks at his dad. "Oh, uh, doctor."

James smiles and walks back to his desk and continues his research, Ezra notices an old dusty book on the desk and reaches out for grab it. He reads through and sees a small faded word hidden on the first page.

_The Commonwealth? _He thinks. "What is the Commonwealth?"

James eyes widen and he looks at his son. "Where have you heard of that?"

He throws the book back on the desk and James reads it, he frowns and shakes his head. "I- I don't see it son."

He sighs and looks at his father. "Well, it's in that book, what kind of book is it anyway?"

He closes the book and looks at the ceiling. "It- it contains a cure for your medical condition but I've hit a blockade."

Ezra walks back to the desk and grabs the book. "Let me read it, I might be able to help."

James almost chokes on his laugh and rolls his eyes, he looks at his son in disbelief. "You're welcome to try."

_Why are you not being honest with me? _He thinks and sighs. "But?"

James stands up and looks at his son concerned. "There's not but son, do you think I'm lying to you?"

Ezra sighs and shakes his head, he notices James doubt but ignores it. He takes the book with him to his room and grabs a little notepad. He leans back in his chair and starts reading it. He reads through it and sees all kinds of symbols and make notes of it, after six hours of reading he falls asleep. He wakes up and sees his father sitting on his bed reading the notes. He blinks a few times and falls out of his chair.

He stands up and looks at his father startled. "When did you get in here?"

James doesn't look up but instead keeps reading the notes. "Oh, about two hours ago."

_Great. _He thinks and sits back in his chair. "Well, find anything useful in my notes?"

James looks up and chuckles. "Oh, Jonas and I already finished making the formula. You just insisted on reading the book yourself."

Ezra stands up and goes with his hand through his hair. "You could have told me."

James stands up and gestures at his son to follow him, he reluctantly follows his father back to his office and sees Jonas mixing all kinds of residues together. He takes a seat on the medical bed and sees both James and Jonas walk up to him. Jonas grabs a syringe from a nearby shelve and fills it with the residue and nods at James.

_Cozy… _Ezra thinks and looks at the two men close in on him. "So, now what? You inject me with that weird stuff?"

James chuckles and smiles at his son. "Don't worry, it's completely safe. Roll up your sleeve if you please."

He slowly rolls up his sleeve and looks at Jonas who injects his arm with the fluid. "It burns, you sure you took all precautions?"

He looks at his arms and notices he starts shaking uncontrollably. James and Jonas quickly place him on the medical bed and start taking a medical diagnosis. He lies down and looks at the bright light on the ceiling. He wakes up three days later and sees his father and Jonas asleep at their desks.

_Ugh, thirsty. _He thinks and stands up. "Whoa, I feel heavier."

James wakes up and looks at his son standing there. "You're awake, how are you feeling?"

Jonas also wakes up and Ezra looks at his Pip-Boy. "Yeah, fine I just feel… heavier."

Before he can look at his Pip-Boy Jonas hands him a note, he raises an eyebrow and shakes his head. "Adamantium Skeleton?"

Jonas and James nod and show him the book. "Yes, the Commonwealth made a prototype of it once."

He places the note in his pocket and looks at the two men. "So, I hope it did more than make me heavier."

James looks at Jonas and back at his son with some concern written all over his face. "Well... it made your skeleton near unbreakable, you can try throwing a brick on your limbs and try..."

He chuckles and zips up his jumpsuit and looks at his father. "No thanks, I'll pass. Well, I guess I gotta go back to work."

Jonas chuckles and shakes his head, he gestures at the door. "Oh no young man, you've got a visitor in the next room."

_Why would anyone visit me? _He thinks and walks to the next room.

He yawns and looks around. "Just as I thought, nobody."

He walks down the hallway to his room and sees someone through the glass sit in his room. He slowly walks in and sees Amata.

He smiles at her and raises an eyebrow. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

She stands up and hugs him. "Nothing, I was just worried."

They both walk out of his room and she leads him down to the reactor level and to the shooting range. She grabs two chairs and they sit down.

She sighs and looks at him. "How are you feeling? You were out for three days."

He hands her the note Jonas gave him and smiles. "Just fine, getting used to feeling heavier."

She frowns as she reads through the note. "So your skeleton is… 'different' now?"

He looks at her and slowly nods. "Yes, it made me three times heavier too."

Amata laughs and hands him the paper. "I guess Butch won't be able to topple you then. I mean, you are still just a skinny as you were before the surgery."

_Great, I'm still considered skinny. _He thinks and smiles at her. "You know Butch, he'll try nonetheless."

She hands him a bottle of water and grabs another for herself. He opens it and drinks it up in a matter of seconds. They spent the night together talking about their lives in the Vault, not knowing that the Overseer is overhearing their entire conversation.

**Three Years Later**

* * *

Ezra wakes up to the sound of Amata and screaming in the background, he gets up and smiles at Amata thinking it's a dream. She slaps him on his cheek and quickly grabs her hand in pain, he snaps out of his dream and his senses are coming back. He hears all kinds of things happening, the Overseer talking about some radroach infestation, screaming people and Amata standing in front of him.

He turns off his Pip-Boy radio and looks at Amata confused. "What's going on?"

She grabs something out of her pocket and looks at him. "Listen, your father left the Vault and my father's men killed Jonas. You have to ge-"

He interrupts her and tries to make sense of the situation. "Whoa hold on, slow down."

She pushes the gun in his hands along with some ammo and runs to the door. "No time, meet me at the Vault door, use the gun if you encounter resistance."

_What the Hell is going on. _He thinks and places the gun on his hip. "Great, I'm a wanted man in here now."

He looks at the ceiling and tries to collect his thoughts, he sighs and looks at his desk and sees some items that may be of use. He grabs most of it and all the medical items, he places his baseball bat on his back and walks to the door. He carefully looks around the corner and into the hallway, he sees a dark hallway and red lights are going on and off. He cautiously walks down the hallway and hears some footsteps, he sees Officer Kendall run up to him wielding a police baton.

Officer Kendall tackles Ezra to the ground and tries to restrain him. "You're under arrest boy."

_For what?! _He thinks and punches the Officer in his chest, the Officer falls on the ground and grabs Ezra by his leg. He turns around and swings his baseball bat at the Officer's head, he looks shocked at the lifeless body of the Officer and kneels next to him to check his pulse.

"Still alive, good."

He walks further down the hallway and pushes himself into cover when he hears a woman scream, he slowly leans out of cover and looks around the corner. He sighs when he sees nobody and continues on, Ezra quickly turns around when he feels eyes on him. He looks around and sees nobody, he cautiously turns around again and continues onward. He walks to the stairs when he feels a hand on his shoulder, he turns around and is about to swing his baseball bat but stops when he sees a startled young man.

He sighs and places his baseball bat on his back. "Damn it Butch!"

Butch looks at him with widened eyes and gasps for air. "I- I need your help, my mother is in danger. Radroaches everywhere!"

Ezra rolls with his eyes. "Butch, you're big, they're little. You can kill them. Are you a Tunnel Snake or what?"

Butch shows some confidence and nods. "You're right, thanks man!"

Ezra places his hand on Butch's shoulder and nods back, he continues up the stairs and hears a flamethrower and another Officer fight. He looks around the corner and sees the robot Andy and Officer Gomez fight off some radroaches, he hears something crawl towards his position and sees a radroach. Instead of grabbing his baseball bat Ezra squishes the radroach under his boot and walks to silently to the classroom, he sees Officer Gomez pas him and go downstairs. He slowly walks into his father's office unnoticed and notices a framed picture on the wall, he inspects it and removes it to see a hidden safe behind it. He opens it and finds a black duffle bag in it filled with all kinds of items, he stares at it for a moment but decides to take it with him. He sneaks back out of his father's office and enters the Atrium.

He opens the door and sees the couple Mary and Tom Holden talk about leaving the Vault. He takes a few steps forward and hears a loud buzzing noise, all the lights in the Atrium shut down leaving only the red alarms on. He takes a deep breath and hears footsteps and two men talking close in on them. He pulls the couple out of sight and turns off his Pip-Boy light.

He looks at the two men pass them and he looks at the startled couple. "Don't leave the Vault, go quietly back to your quarters."

The couple reluctantly nods and agrees, they both quietly leave the Atrium and Ezra makes his way up the dark stairs. He turns his Pip-Boy light back on and he feels something push him to the ground. He swings his baseball bat in random directions and hears something crack, he aims his light towards the stairs and sees a dead radroach lying on the ground. Ezra looks at his shirt and notices some blood, he aims his light at the wound and sighs in relief. He sees a small dimly lit room ahead and walks to it and sees someone lie on the ground, he checks the pulse but turns around when he hears footsteps close in on him in a fast pace. He sees something black hit him in his face and Ezra staggers back and falls on his back, he sees Officer Hannon swing at him again, he uses his arm to block the incoming swing and feels a burning feeling on his arm. The Officer looks confused at his bent police baton and throws it on the ground.

The Officer pulls out his gun and looks around the poorly lit room. "You'll pay for that."

Ezra looks at his arm and remembers his hardened skeleton. "What happened here?"

The Officer tries to follow the sound in the room but fails when he is tackled to the ground, he pushes Ezra off him and shoots randomly around him. Ezra crawls over the ground and pulls the Officer back to the ground and hits him in his face with the baseball bat. He is about to check the Officer's pulse but hears a female voice ahead. The emergency reactor turns on and lights everything again. He sees Amata being questioned by the Overseer and Officer Mack. He crouches next to the glass and hears something about Officer Mack killing Jonas, he feels his emotions take control of him and he pulls out the 10mm pistol and enters the room. He shoots repeatedly at Officer Mack, killing him. Amata runs out of the room in shock and Ezra turns his head towards the scared Overseer.

The Overseer holds hands in front of him. "Don't do anything rash boy."

He pushes the barrel of the gun against the Overseer's head. "Rash? Rash like you killing Jonas?!"

The Overseer sighs and rolls his eyes. "An unfortunate accident."

Angered by what the Overseer just said Ezra throws the Overseer's head as hard as he can against the glass, creating a blood splatter on the glass. He kneels next to the Overseer and check his pockets for anything useful to no avail. He stands up and walks to the Overseer's office, his heart stops when he sees Jonas' lifeless, tortured body lying on the ground. He kneels next to it and notices a holotape in Jonas' hands, he grabs it and says a short prayer in his head. He stands back up and walks to the door when he hears crying and sobbing coming from the room on the other side. He walks in there and sees Amata sitting at the table.

He places his hand on her shoulder and gives it a little squeeze. "It's alright."

She grabs his hand and stands up to hug him. "Thank you, if you hadn't come…"

He shushes her and lets go of her. "I'm here, I'll always be here when you need me,"

She smiles at him and hands him some bobby pins. "Here, use them to get into the office."

He walks back to the locked door and uses the bobby pin to open it, he sees a terminal and several lockers in the room ahead. He opens the terminal and notices it's in lock-down, he looks around the room for something useful and opens the lockers. He takes most of the items and he sees a note on the shelve. He looks at it for a moment and enters the code in the terminal. He copies all possible files, as he opens the door when he notices a file on his dad and opens it.

_I'm not born in the Vault? _He thinks. "For nineteen years I've been living in a lie?"

He diminishes the thought and enters the Vault entrance, he looks around for a way to open it and sees the lever. He pulls the lever and it makes a bone breaking sound when the large metal door of Vault 101 slides open. He hears someone run towards him and he turns around but lowers his weapon when he sees it's Amata.

She hands him a book. "You did it, good luck out there."

_The old nameless book my dad had. _He thinks and chuckles. "Thanks, take good care of the Vault Amata."

He walks towards the door when someone turns him around and punches him in his face, he sees Officer Wolfe swing at him again. He dodges the first punch but Wolfe grabs Ezra's arm and pushes his face several times against the metal door. He sees blood splatters on the metal door and his vision gets blurry. He turns around grabs the Officer's arm and dislocates it in one elegant motion, he hears the Officer scream and pull out his pistol. Ezra quickly runs to the door and feels his right arm leak, he looks at his right arm and sees blood run down from his shoulder. He hears the door close behind him and sees a faint light coming from a wooden door ahead. He places the duffle bag on the ground and grabs a Stimpak and injects it into his shoulder, dulling the pain. He carefully places the duffle bag back on his shoulder and walks towards the wooden door and opens it.

He is greeted by a warm breeze and a blinding sun, he hears all kinds of sounds of life. His vision slowly returns and he sees the destroyed world with his own eyes. He takes on step forward, one step on his road.


	3. New World, New Rules

**New World, New Rules**

* * *

_He is greeted by a warm breeze and a blinding sun, he hears all kinds of sound of life. His vision slowly returns and he sees the destroyed world with his own eyes. He takes on step forward, one step on his road._

Lost in the destroyed world he sees with his own eyes, he takes a few steps forward and sits down on a rock when he feels his shoulder hurt. He places the duffle bag next to him and looks at his Pip-Boy, he activates the note he found on Jonas' body. As he listens to the holotape he looks at the sky and closes his eyes. The holotape ends and he looks at the ruined town ahead, he raises an eyebrow as he sees a man walking around in the ruined town ahead. He blinks and the man has disappeared from his line of sight, he quickly grabs his 10mm and looks around the area.

_Where are you? _He thinks and slowly makes his way down to the town, he looks at his Pip-Boy when it flashes up and sees it make a note of his current location.

He aims his 10mm pistol at some rubble as he sees several rocks moves between the rubble. He takes a deep breath and starts to sweat as he hears footsteps close in on him from behind.

"Get out of sight boy!" He hears and feels someone pull him into a dark corner of a burned down house. The man holds his hand on Ezra's mouth and points at a squad of soldiers with his other hand.

The soldiers are heavily armed, bearing an unknown emblem and their armor is as black as the night. They walk down the street looking around the rubble and ruined houses.

"Soldiers serving Evil, they kill anyone they see fit to." The man softly says and removes his hand from Ezra's mouth, his eyes carefully follow the soldiers who pass them. "W- Who are you?"

"Someone who just saved your ass boy." The man says and walks away, disappearing into the horizon.

Ezra starts to breathe heavily and his body starts to shake, he looks around the rubble and realizes he is alone. The Pip-Boy light flashes on and he makes his way out of the house. He turns his gaze towards a painted metal board in the distance.

"Turn right to enter Megaton."

_Where have I heard that name before? _He thinks and opens his Pip-Boy and starts scrolling through the copies he made of the files on the Overseer's terminal. "Guess I should start my search there."

He adjusts his posture and places the duffle bag on his left shoulder, he turns around as he hears some buzzing noises and a man talk. He sees a robot hovering in the air and flying about, he scans the area for any other activity and walks off the road towards the metal sign. Still getting used to the outside world he wipes off some sweat and dust from his face, he turns his head to the right and sees a large metal town ahead. He slowly makes his way towards Megaton while thinking about the mysterious man that had saved him just a few minutes back. He walks up to a strange looking robot and feels a hand on his shoulder.

_Ugh, great on my right shoulder too. _He thinks and turns around, he sees two men and a weird looking animal packing all kinds of items. "Uhm, yes, can I help you?"

The man removes his hand from Ezra's shoulder as he notices the wound, he is wearing some cleaned up business clothing and glasses. "Oh, sorry, I did not know that your shoulder is hurt."

"It's nothing, really." He says and the man's eyes scan Ezra's body.

The man shakes his head and sighs. "Are you sure? The wound may be infected."

_How am I going to get out of this? _He thinks and slowly shakes his head. "No, I'm sure. I appreciate the concern though."

The man reluctantly leaves him alone and goes back to his two headed animal. Ezra walks back to the robot and sees the metal door open, the sound reminds him of the metal door of Vault 101. He passes through and enters Megaton. He looks at his Pip-Boy as it flashes up and make another note of its current location, he raises an eyebrow for a moment and looks around the town.

"Life out here is bad." He mutters to himself as he looks at the poorly constructed houses. "Perhaps Amata was right, maybe hope is lost."

"Well, I'll be… Another Vault Dweller!" A man says, he wears a long brown coat and a big brown hat, he smiles at Ezra and holds out his hand.

Ezra looks at the man slightly afraid and shakes his hand. "Yeah, I am. Wait you said 'another'…"

"Name's Lucas Simms, town sheriff and mayor. There was another man who passed through here as well, not too long ago. He wore the same outfit as you, except for that blood splatter." Lucas says jokingly, he notices Ezra looks over his shoulder, he turns around and looks at the bomb. "Don't worry boy, the bomb safe."

Ezra raises an eyebrow and looks at Lucas. "I can try to disarm it, if you allow me to."

The sheriff chuckles and points at the bomb. "All yours."

The sheriff makes his way towards another person and Ezra walks down to the bomb, he takes a step into the water and hears his radiation meter tick. He looks at the bomb and carefully removes the small panel and sees some wiring and a charge inside. The people of Megaton gather around him unnoticed and look at him, he feels eyes on him and turns around and he starts to feel uncomfortable, he wipes of some sweat from his forehead and looks back at the bomb.

"A lot more technical than I expected." He softly mutters to himself and closes his eyes, he takes a deep breath and rips out the charge.

The bomb makes a high pitching sound and some people jump to the ground in fear. He looks at the bomb and it finally shuts down, he takes a few steps back and sits on the ground for a moment. Some people start to look at each other confused.

Ezra feels someone place a hand on his shoulder and he turns around and gets up. "I disarmed it, I removed the charge. Or whatever it- Oh I thought you were someone else."

He sees a man standing in front of him wearing a lightly colored, dusty business suit and a hat, the man looks at him expectantly. Ezra gets a negative feeling and looks at the man cautiously.

The man's cold eyes look straight into Ezra's eyes, it makes him shiver. "So you disarmed it… That is unfortunate."

Ezra turns his head slightly to the right and looks at the sheriff and another man wearing some leather armor approach him, the two make brief eye contact with him and the sheriff turns to the other man.

"Mr. Burke… what do you want?" Lucas Simms coolly asks and holds his hand over his sidearm.

Burke looks at the sheriff and the other man and smirks. "Nothing, sheriff, I was about to take my leave."

The sheriff and the other man turn their backs to Mr. Burke who grabs something from under his jacket. Ezra sees a small pistol with a scope on it, he sees Burke aim the pistol at the sheriff.

"Get down, gun!" He screams as he grabs Burke's arm and tries to pull the gun out of his hand. In the struggle Burke accidentally fires a round into the air, drawing the sheriff's attention.

Ezra manages to pull the gun out of Burke's hand and falls to the ground, both the Lucas Simms and the other man take this opportunity to fire their assault rifles and kill Burke. The lifeless body of Burke falls next to Ezra and he looks at it for my moment, shocked.

"You alright kid?" The man in leather armor asks, he extends his hand and helps Ezra up.

"Ugh, yeah, just a little shocked that's all." He says and looks at the pistol he pulled out Burke's hand.

Lucas Simms walks up to the lifeless body of Mr. Burke and starts checking the pockets for anything useful, he finds some small ammo boxes and throws them towards Ezra who snatches them out of the air.

Ezra looks at the ammo and notices they fit in the pistol, he slowly reloads the pistol and places it on his left hip and the rest of the ammo in his duffle bag. The man in leather armor picks up the body and the three men make their way towards the entrance of Megaton.

"Is there no respect for the dead out here?" Ezra asks as he follows the two men out of Megaton towards a small pile of skeleton bodies, or what's left of them.

The man in leather armor throws the body on the pile and slowly cleans his armor of blood and dust, he sighs and turns around. "It's not like we are robbing him, he's still got that ugly ass suit on, but you might as well take his ammo and other useful equipment."

"I see…" He slowly says and looks at the lifeless body again, he takes a deep breath and looks at the sheriff. "So what now?"

"You get those wounds checked out." He says and gestures at Ezra to follow him, the three men enter Megaton and walk down towards a small, barely standing shack.

He silently chuckles when he sees the words written on the shack, he turns around and looks at the Sheriff. "I don't need a doctor, I can fix myself up."

"Suit yourself kid." The Sheriff says and shrugs, he turn his back to Ezra and talks to the man in leather armor. The two men walk away and back to the entrance of Megaton.

In truth he knows he needs medical assistance but doesn't want to be a burden on the people here. He feels some water fall on his face and burn, he looks up and notices it starts to rain, he sees people walk to the inside or stand underneath something to protect themselves against the rain. He looks around him and opens up his Pip-Boy.

_It would take years for the irradiated rain to be lethal. _He thinks and walks back up the hill and leaves Megaton, he sees a large rock and decides to rest underneath it.

Hours go by as he sits in the rain cleaning his face and gunshot wound on his shoulder, he places the duffle bag next to him and slowly rests his head against the rock and closes his eyes. After a few hours of sleeping in the cold, hard rain he wakes up to the sound of someone sitting down next to him, he looks up and sees a person wearing a yellow radiation suit. In one quick motion he grabs his duffle bag with his weakened right arm and aims his .44 at the person who slowly stands up with her hands in front of her.

"Whoa, calm now!" The mysterious woman says and he slowly lowers his weapon and holsters it.

"W- Who are you?" He asks and rests the duffle bag on the ground and reaches for his right shoulder. He shows a pained expression and sees the woman gesture at him to follow her. He places his father's duffle bag on his left shoulder and reluctantly follows her.

"I'm Moira Brown, I run Craterside Supply. The sheriff is concerned about you and I volunteered to look around." She explains as they walk back into Megaton and towards her house.

_Damn these surprises. _He thinks and smiles at Moira. "Nice to meet you Moira."

She turns on the light in her house and she chuckles when she sees the young man completely soaked with wounds on his face and shoulder. The two sit down and she hands him a small, almost completely burned towel. He cleans his face and sees blood on the towel and he tries to clean it. He hears the door close and multiple footsteps close in on him and sit down in front of him, he sees both Moira and the sheriff sit there look at him.

"So… What happened to your face?" The sheriff slowly asks as he rests his assault rifle next to the chair. He lights up a cigarette and looks at Ezra.

"I don't remember." He says, he sees the two look at him thinking he's lying but in truth he really doesn't remember how his face got beaten up. He tries to think back and sighs and shakes his head.

He sees the sheriff stand up and hand him a key and a small dingy bag filled with some bottle caps. He looks at the sheriff speechless.

"We have a house available. Thought you might want to move in, heck you did a lot of good around here already." The sheriff says as he places his assault rifle back on his back, he nods at Moira and leaves her house.

Ezra places the small bag in the duffle bag and the key in his pocket, he turns his head towards Moira who looks at him expectantly, it makes him a little bit nervous but he tries not to show it. He sees she's holding a piece of armor and he looks at it for a moment. "What is that?" He slowly asks.

"Oh, I reinforced this Vault 101 jumpsuit a while back, you can have it if you want." She says with some excitement in her voice, she hands him the armor and sits back in her chair.

He looks amazed at the armor and back at Moira. "How did you reinforce it?"

"Oh I learned a few things here and there you know." She says and stands up grabbing a small dusty book from a shelve. "It's all in here but most of the pages are torn out or just not readable."

He carefully inspects the book and recognizes it, he open the duffle bag and starts looking around. Moira curiously leans over his shoulder to look at all the items and sees him grab an identical book from his bag.

"Like this one?" He asks and turns around, he sees Moira back up a little and sit back in her chair.

"Yes, these books are rare, like really rare. They contain so much information. Where did you get it?" She asks and grabs a small bottle of dirty water.

"Oh, m- my father had this before he left the Vault, it's completely intact." He says, Moira drops her bottle out of her hands. He looks up and sees her eyes sparkle.

"Intact? That could help me with my book!" She says almost screaming with excitement and she startles Ezra.

She walks up to him grabbing him by both his shoulders almost making his injury even worse, she kneels in front of him and looks into his eyes. It makes him very nervous and he tries to look away but can't.

"Are you a fast reader?" She asks slowly without blinking.

"Are you kidding? I used to read all the time in the Vault, I'm pretty fast." He says with some confidence in his voice.

She stands up and walks to her computer at a fast pace and sits down. "This is great, I've had some people help me with my book but this book you got should help with the rest and finish it!"

_Interesting to see how people still try to help each other out here. _He thinks and clears his throat. "That's great."

Moira looks over her shoulder at Ezra and gestures at him to sit next to her, he picks up his chair and brings it to Moira and sees all kinds of notes and findings for a book called the Wasteland Survival Guide. He chuckles when he sees the title and he opens his book, the two start completing the rest of the book.

The next day Ezra is awoken by something crawling over his face, his vision slowly returns and he sees a small mutated spider walk over his cheek, thanks to his phobia for spiders he smacks his own face and falls out of the chair causing Moira to walk into room holding a broom as a weapon. He shakes his head and sees the spider squished in his hand along with some dried up blood.

"Did we finish your book?" He asks and slowly gets up.

Moira chuckles and hands him a book. "More than that, you read so fast we got too much information. I had to make a little easier to understand so I shortened it a little."

"Well, I hope it'll help." He says as he looks at the first Wasteland Survival Guide book Moira handed him. He quickly reads through it and looks at Moira impressed.

"I cooked up some surprises for your house, it should help you in your travels I'm sure!" She says with excitement, the two walk out of her house. They both split ways as Moira makes her way to her store and Ezra to his own house.

He opens the door and is greeted by a robot, for a moment he thinks of Andy back in the Vault but diminishes the thought. He looks around his house and sees all kinds of things, an infirmary, workbench and even more, he takes a seat behind his infirmary and places the duffle bag next to him. After messing around with it for a few minutes he heals his wounds and hears someone knock on his door. Before he could do anything the robot opens the door and lets someone in.

He walks down the stairs and sees the sheriff stand in his house, looking at everything.

"Can I help you?" He asks as he places his pre-war money in the duffle bag.

The sheriff looks around the room and whistles. "Some damn good upgrades you got here. Anyway I just wanted to let you know today most trade caravans are at Megaton. You might want to do some shopping."

He nods at the sheriff who leaves, he makes his way to the entrance of Megaton and walks passed the giant metal door. He looks disappointed when he sees no trade caravans and he decides to wait. Ezra hears some gunfire and reaches for his hip, he tries to grab his .44 but realizes he left it at his house. He shakes his head and remembers to keep a firearm with him at all times. He sees multiple two headed cows walk passed some rock and rubble, he looks surprised when he sees a woman leading the all the packed cows towards Megaton. His eye catches some armor on the first cow, it completely black and appears to have some kind of coat too.

He decides to slowly approach to woman who stopped walking, he turns around and sees multiple people from Megaton run towards the caravan. He looks back at the armor and keeps his eyes on it. The woman sees Ezra slowly approach her and look passed her, she raises an eyebrow when he doesn't respond to her waving.

She walks up to him and waves in front of his face. "Hey! Can I help you?"

He sees a woman in her early thirties stand in front of him with some red hair tied up in a ponytail.. "Uh, yeah. I- I uhm…"

She starts to laugh and leads him towards the cow. "Relax, sorry I startled you. I'm Cassidy, people usually call me Cass. Now did you see anything you like on the Brahmin?"

"Bra… What?" He asks slightly uncomfortable.

"Oh you must be that kid I heard about on the radio, these animals are called Brahmin." She explains as she pets the animal on his head.

"Interesting, Brahmin… Ok, anyway I was looking at that black armor, what is it?" He asks, he feels slightly less uncomfortable and smiles at her.

She looks at him surprised and grabs the armor along with a helmet from the Brahmin. "This? It's one of the old Ranger amours, quite rare too, it's very solid and light armor but nobody wants to buy it."

"Why's that?" He asks and raises an eyebrow, he places the duffle bag next to him and opens it.

Cass sighs and grabs a bottle of whiskey from of her coats pockets. "It's in very, very poor condition. I haven't been able to find anyone who could repair it."

"That shouldn't be a problem." He says confidently and grabs all his pre-war money and looks at Cass. She shakes her head and looks at him in disbelief.

"Not a problem you say." She says and looks at him surprised, she takes a sip from her whiskey and hands him the helmet and armor. "You show me how to fix it and I'll give it to you for free."

He stands there for a moment with his pre-war money in his hands staring at her. She blinks a few times and raises an eyebrow. "Most of the time when a guy looks at me like that, they try to hit on me."

He continues to stare at her for a minute and regains control. "Sorry, really for free?"

She chuckles and nods, he gestures at her to follow him but she shakes her head. "You go ahead, I need to talk to someone first. Don't worry I'll find you in there."

She looks at the young man who walks back into Megaton, she turns around and sees the rest of the other caravans arrive at Megaton.

_That took a while. Cassidy Caravans got here first, that's good start._

Ezra places the armor and helmet on his workbench and grabs his father's old book and places it next to him. He sees some bullet holes and large scratches on the riot vest and dents in the helmet.

_What could possibly cause this kind of damage… _He thinks and hears someone knock on the door, his robot butler Wadsworth opens the door and lets Cassidy in. She looks around and notices the .44 on the table.

"You should keep that .44 with you at all times, I'd advise you to keep it concealed though." She says and places a small box next to it. He hears some glass clatter against each other.

"You brought whiskey?"

She looks up and over her shoulder towards Ezra. "Yeah, how did you know?"

He chuckles and gestures at her to come to him, she picks up a chair and places it next to him. "Just a guess."

She sees the armor and helmet next to each other and the small book, she frowns for a moment when she notices that the book is nameless. "You gonna show me how it's done?"

He slowly nods and reads through the book and starts repairing the armor slowly. She stops drinking her whiskey when she sees him repair the armor with ease and places it next to him. She shakes her head and blinks when he starts on the helmet.

"This is some unique armor, tell me about it." He says keeping his focus on the helmet.

"Well this is the old original Ranger Armor before the NCR got their hands on it. The original owner of this armor got killed in an explosion when he tried to save his people." She explains and grabs another bottle of whiskey.

"NCR?" He asks and fills some of the scratches on the side of the helmet.

"New California Republic, bunch of people with a lot money back West." She says and quickly drinks up another bottle.

He sighs and picks up the armor again, he looks at it and notices that the armor and duster aren't the same color anymore, it's completely worn off and has some grey spots on it.

"It's done, but the armor is discolored." He says slightly disappointed, he looks over his shoulder at Cass who fell asleep next to him on the chair.

He grabs most of his stuff and places it in the duffle bag and makes a quick run towards Craterside Supply. "Moira? I need your help."

She looks up over a large pile of copies of the Guide and smiles at him. "With what?"

"Well, I need to make my armor black. You got anything that can make it completely black, including the coat?" He asks and checks his Pip-Boy for the time.

Moira stands up and walks up the stairs and drops a large box next to him. He opens it and sees some buckets filled with black liquid. "How much you want for it?"

"25 Bottle caps and it's all yours." She says and walks back down and to her terminal. He opens small pouch and places 25 caps on the counter and grabs the box. Moira waves at him and he walks back to his house. He opens the door and Cass has disappeared, he sees a note on the table and reads it.

"_Sorry but I had to go, I have to check my Caravan._

_I leave in three days and check my supplies daily._

_Can you meet me outside of Megaton?_

_P.S. Sorry I fell asleep… and made your house smell like whiskey._"

He opens one of the cans and start painting the duster pitch black, the smell fills the room and starts to make him feel dizzy. He brings the coat upstairs and quickly paints the helmet black and heat dries it. He places the helmet on his head and closes it, it makes a hissing sound and he notices it serves as a gas mask as well.

_This helmet is very useful, maybe I can integrate my Pip-Boy into it later. _He thinks and grabs the armor.

After a few hours he completes the armor and makes a note on his Pip-Boy for additional upgrades, he slowly puts on the armor and walks down the stairs of his home. A small object catches his eye and he grabs it up, he looks at the small locket for a moment places it in his pocket. He remembers the advice Cass gave him and holsters his .44 on his left hip, he copies all information to a holotape.

* * *

_How can it be gone?!_

Cassidy walks around her caravan searching the place, she walks around as a maniac and most people wisely avoid her rage. Most other caravan owners look at her confused, unaware of what caused her to do this. Wolfgang, one of the other trade caravan owners, watches her from a distance, keeping close tabs on her. The animals are starting to get nervous as they hear a thundering sound close in on them, Cassidy however, keeps looking around the place ignoring the incoming enemy.

Ezra walks out of Megaton and sees a small black herd close in on the small encampment of caravans ahead, he feels every hair on his body stand up straight and he quickly makes his way down to the encampment. He sees some small mutated rats pass him and run under some rocks to hide, he looks over his shoulder and notices how most animals have are gone, he places his left arm on his .44 and slowly continues downward towards the encampment. He sees Cassidy rest against a rock with a bottle of whiskey in her hands, she looks sad but angry at the same time, he carefully approaches her as he feels something is about to happen.

"Hey Cass, is something wrong?" He slowly asks without trying to make her any sadder than she already is.

She throws her empty bottle of whiskey at his feet and raises her head. "I lost something, a small locket."

He thinks back at the small shiny locket he found back in his house, he slowly pulls is out of his pocket and shows her the locket. "You mean this one?"

She moves her head slightly to the left and shows a playful grin, she takes the locket and places it around her neck. "Thanks, this belonged to my father, it means a lot to me."

"Must've been a good ma-" He is cut off when they hear a loud sound close in on them, he looks at Cassidy who grabs her rifle and some dynamite. They both hear an explosion not too far from them, the ground starts to shake like an earthquake, he sees smoke come from Springvale and rushes to it.

He hides behind a rock and sees the soldiers he saw before fight against another group of people who wear grey metal armor, he sees how the soldiers in black armor push forward and almost completely decimate the other forces. He looks over his shoulder and sees Cassidy along with other caravans make a formation to hold their ground at the encampment. He focuses his attention back on the fight and decides to help fight against the soldiers in black Power Armor. He takes a few steps forward but is pulled back by a mysterious stranger.

"You?" He says with adrenaline flowing through his veins.

"You nearly got yourself killed, again, kid!" The stranger says with a serious tone in his voice, they hear some engines ahead and Ezra looks out of cover and sees weird looking planes fly over and decimate both forces in a matter of seconds. He sees an "E" on the side of the plane as it disappears into the horizon.

Ezra and the mysterious stranger make their way to the battleground, as he looks at all the lifeless bodies lying on the ground he sighs and closes his eyes. "What are we doing in a cruel world like this?"

The stranger fills two bags and looks at Ezra for a moment. "Cruel? You haven't seen anything yet."

Just as he feared, a world that will chew him up and spit him out. The people out here live a hard life, he learned that much but what about his place? His mind is filled with a lot of questions as he walks around the war-zone. The rules out here are simple; if you're a second too slow you die, you either fight or die and war never changes.

The stranger stands up and hands Ezra the second bag. "If it's so cruel, why don't you change it?"

"And how do you expect me to do that?" He asks as he looks at the sky and without any confidence in his voice, he turns around and realizes that the stranger has disappeared and that he has been alone for some time. He quickly looks around him and thinks he's going crazy.

He walks back up the hill, passing the Cassidy and other people without looking at them. Cass notices there's something wrong and decides to check out the Springvale herself, he walks all the way back to his house without talking or looking at anyone. He sits in his chair and stares at the table thinking about his father and his best course of action. He shakes his head and takes off his helmet, it releases some air and makes a hissing sound. For all he knows his father could be dead but he wants to know for sure but without a lead he is flying blind in the Capital Wasteland. He slowly drifts away and falls asleep in his chair.


	4. The start of a madman

**The start of a madman  
**

* * *

A small group of people sit in a darkly lit room, one of the older ones is drawing on the board while the others are quietly listening. They all stop moving when they hear footsteps close in on them, they keep their breath in as the footsteps stop at the door. A young man enters to room holding some bottles, he is startled when he sees a slightly irritated woman approach him.

"Butch, what the hell are you doing? We have a secret knock remember." Amata says slightly irritated. She grabs the bottles out of his hands and shakes her head as she notices they are filled with whiskey.

"Hey, the only reason I decided to help you is because of our friend out there… and because I hate your father. No offense." Butch says and grabs his own modified little whiskey can out of his pocket. He turns on the light and smiles at the small group sitting there, he grabs a seat and joins them.

"We should keep the lights dimmed." A young woman says as she shifts uncomfortably in her chair.

"Relax Christine, there are no windows in the classroom, we're fine." Wally says, reassuring Christine. She shows some confidence and nods at him.

"Amata I need to talk to." Mr. Brotch says with a concerned voice. Amata stands up and follows him to the other side of the classroom.

"What's wrong?" She asks and leans back against the wall. Mr. Brotch sighs and closes his eyes, avoiding eye contact.

"Your father, the overseer, knows you are hiding in the classroom. He intends to arrest you all, including you." He softly says, still avoiding eye contact.

Susie, who has some good hearing, walks up to Amata and Mr. Brotch and looks at them angry, yet concerned. The others join her and look at each other scared.

"What do we do?" Susie asks slowly as he holds her hands nervously.

"We're fucked man!" Paul says almost screaming, causing a severe fracture in the group.

The group continuously talks through each other and ignore each other. Amata looks at the chaos Paul just created, it reminded her of how she felt three days ago when she saw Ezra kill Officer Mack. She closes her in an attempt to keep control over herself when she suddenly feels someone grab her by her arms. Amata opens her eyes and sees Mr. Brotch look at her.

"You have to get them out of here." He says almost ordering her, he loosens his grip and releases her arms.

"How do you expect me to do that?" She yells over the chaos as she shakes her head.

The chaos stops when they hear glass shatter, they all look at Butch who's hand is bloody as they see broken glass laying by his feet. He stares at the ground and sighs.

"I can understand why he hates most of us you know, we treated him like crap. I am trying to change, but you guys, my God you are like little children. You haven't changed one bit! You can keep bitching like little children all you want but it won't help, how about we be a better person like him and try to make the whole Vault a better place again?" He exclaims in anger. The group calms down, afraid Butch might snap in anger. They slowly look around and at each other, they know Butch is right.

"What do you expect us to do then?" Amata asks, breaking the silence in the room.

"For a start, listen to this guy right here." Butch says as he points at a man.

They all look at Freddie who has been sitting there silently the whole time. Freddie, who has always been a shy person, looks surprised at Butch and at the rest of the group. He looks around the group and his eyes catch Susie smile at him, it gives him some confidence to speak.

"Uh, yeah. A while back I remember seeing you, Amata, and Ezra sneak down to the Reactor level. Maybe we should hide there?" He slowly says as he keeps looking at Susie. Wally follows Freddie's eyes and clears his throat.

"I guess we should move as fast as we can then." Wally suggests as he grabs his bag and starts filling it.

The group agrees and starts to fill their bags and pockets with stuff that might come to good use. One by one they silently leave the room and head for their rooms and rendezvous at the Reactor Level. Paul however, attempts to lead Mr. Brotch safely to the Reactor Level. He looks around the corner and gestures at his teacher when the unthinkable happens. Officers Wolfe and his father, Hannon Sr., walk around the corner and spot Mr. Brotch. Paul pushes himself against the wall and closes his eyes.

"Mr. Brotch." Officer Hannon says while holding his hand over his 10mm pistol.

"Hannon, is everything alright?" Mr. Brotch asks as he looks at the two men standing in front of him. It makes him nervous but he tries his best not to show it.

"That's Officer Hannon. Now, in the name of Alphonse Almodovar, Overseer of Vault 101, you are under arrest for aiding the rebels in taking over Vault 101." Wolfe says with a cold voice as he grabs his bloodstained police baton.

"No need for violence." Brotch says as he holds his hands in front of him.

Officer Hannon uses places his hand on Wolfe's shoulder and nods at him. He slowly lowers his police baton and reluctantly places it on his hip. Paul's eyes get fueled by anger when he sees his father punch Mr. Brotch in the stomach and lead him towards the cell. Paul, conflicted on what to do, decides it's best to join the others at the Reactor Level. He walks down the stairs and sees the rest armed with baseball bats and stolen 10mm pistols. Amata looks at the saddened Paul and places her hand on his shoulder.

"Everything alright? Where's Mr. Brotch?" She slowly asks, keeping a calm voice.

"No, my father punched Mr. Brotch and put him under arrest for helping us." He softly says as he tries to wrap his head around what his father just did.

Amata sighs and hugs him, she looks over her shoulder at Butch who opens the door. Butch slowly whistles when he sees that the room is filled with bottles of water and food. The group enter the room and they all look around. Freddie looks at all the cans of food and grabs one and shakes it. Susie grabs a bottle of water and looks at Amata, she nods at Susie and she opens it and takes a sip from it.

"Did you two sneak out to play chess with food and water down here or something?" Butch jokingly asks as he tries to lighten up the mood.

"Oh I know, Amata is water and he used to be food as he never gained weight." Wally says as he smiles at Amata whose cheeks start to blush a little.

"No, nothing like that." She says and places her bag on a table. She cleans some dirt of her jumpsuit and notices Christine is sitting on one of the beds.

Once they all have settled down they barricade the door and sit down on their beds, getting ready to sleep after a long night. Amata however, reflects back on some of her older memories and Butch is playing with his switchblade.

"Ever wonder what's out there Amata?" He softly asks, trying not to wake the others up.

"He once asked me the same thing Butch…" She says thinking back about that day in the cafeteria.

"That's not an answer Amata." Butch says and places his switchblade back in his jacket's pocket, he rolls over and looks at her.

She looks at the ceiling and catches Butch looking at her in the corner of her eye. She rolls over and smiles at him. She is about to say something when a loud static sounds comes up on the speakers, waking everybody up.

_This is the Overseer of Vault 101, your leader. Amata I know you are listening to this and we need to talk, I know you and the rest of the rebels are hiding on the Reactor Level. I expect to see you tomorrow morning at 11 AM in my office. If you don't show up, it will turn ugly for the rebels. Don't make me do that._

The announcement ends with the loud static noise and finally silence. Most of the group looks at Amata while the others are busy zipping up their suits. Amata knows she'd want company when she faces her father but decides to swallow those words and diminish the thought. She nods at the group and they all go back to their beds.

* * *

The next day she wakes up and looks at her Pip-Boy, in a split-second she gets up and rushes to the door. When she enters the hallway she blinks a few times and looks confused when she sees both Wally and Butch leaning against the wall. She raises an eyebrow and slowly approaches the two.

"What are you guys doing out here?" She slowly asks.

"Well we aren't gonna let you go out there alone you know." Butch says as he takes a sip from his whiskey.

"Yeah, Tunnel Snake bodyguards… Or Rebel bodyguards… I don't know." Wally says confused by his own words.

The three walk up the stairs and through the long hallway to the Overseer's Office. They are greeted by Officers Gomez and Wolfe at the door, Gomez smiles at them and opens the door for them while Wolfe keeps a close eye on Butch and Wally. The door shuts down behind them and the Overseer gets up from his seat, he looks at his daughter and the two men guarding her.

"I didn't expect to see this." Alphonse says but looks proudly at them and smirks a little.

"Well, you wanted to see me father." Amata says nervously and looks at the terminal behind the Overseer flashing up and making a sound.

"Ah yes, I want your 'rebels' to stop plan to take over the Vault. I am trying to restore order in this Vault but you are ruining it!" He says aggravated, both Butch and Wally look at the Overseer coolly who wisely lowers his voice.

"My rebels you say." Amata remarks and grabs her hands.

"You lead them do you not? Is it not you who thinks I am ruining the Vault?" He says with an emotionless voice.

"You have turned into a monster, a dictator who wants the supreme power in the Vault." Wally exclaims and takes a few steps forward towards the Overseer. Butch grabs Wally by his arm and prevents him from attacking the Overseer.

"I have the ultimate authority in the Vault, my word is law!" The Overseer angrily says and slams his hand on his desk.

"I don't what you have become, but you are not my father." Amata says and walks out of the room, Wally slowly follows her and Butch looks at the Overseer.

The Overseer watches until his daughter has left his sight and he sits down, he stares at Butch who shakes his head and sighs as he leaves the room as well. Back on the Reactor Level Amata sits down in a chair and thinks about what her friend would do in this situation. The rest of the group stares in front of them feeling even more powerless than before.

The Overseer has doubled the patrols through the Vault and looks out of his small round window and at the entrance of the Vault. He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes, he lets his emotions run through his body and opens his eyes again. Now that he has driven his daughter even further away he decides it's best to take full control of the Vault and close it, forever. He turns around and walks back to his desk when his terminal flashes up again, he raises an eyebrow and sits down in front of it. He logs in and looks surprised when he sees that the Vault has received a message from the outside.

"President of the Enclave…" He mutters to himself as he continues to read the letter.


End file.
